Chapter 1344: The day Persia was in trouble
Gaia 10th year, 3rd month, 5th day.
Unexpectedly, the first war of the 10th year did not happen in Europe but in Asia.
On this day, Great Xia officially declared war on the Persian Empire.
The Persian Empire had a massive territory with around 30 million players. Even after suffering from the Mongol Empire's western expedition, the empire's army still remained at two million.
Along with its position close to the Persian Gulf, it was seen as Asia's rising empire.
Moreover, apart from their war with the Mongol Empire, the Persian Empire had rarely participated in outside battles. It was stable internally, its trade was prosperous, and its industrialization process was relatively developed. It was Great Xia's final and strongest opponent in Asia.
Before taking down India, Ouyang Shuo had not decided on whether they were going to declare war on the Persian Empire or not.
The smoothness of the war of India not only helped Great Xia obtain another Governor-General region, but it also allowed them to gain a million elite troops, giving Ouyang Shuo the confidence to go to war with Persia.
Their status as Overlord of Asia also had an positive effect on this war.
In order to take down the Persian Empire quickly, Ouyang Shuo treated the matter seriously. He sent three armies for a total of 31 legions and 1.55 million troops.
The top front came from Phoenix legion corps' four legions in the North Asia warzone; they would enter from Xijiang Province. Phoenix legion corps commander Guo Ziyi would be the north front commander.
The middle front included the four legions of the Bear legion corps and the three from the West Asia legion corps for a total of 350 thousand troops; they would enter from Xijiang Province.
God General Wang Jian would take up the role of middle front commander.
The bottom front would consist of the 1st to 4th legion corps of the South Asia warzone, a total of a million troops. They were the main force of this attack and would attack from Ashoka Province.
God General Li Jing would personally lead these troops.
Apart from that, the Indian Ocean Squadron would also launch attacks on the shorelines of the Persian Empire.
Taking down one enemy and using their soldiers to attack the next target.
This method was similar to the meatgrinder operation Jia Xu made for the Tibet battlefield. It had set up a type of Great Xia model.
If things proceeded smooth, they could continue to use this model.
The foundations for this came from the rewards Great Xia obtained from the India battlefield. They had utilized the unorthodox method of the emperor instant death talisman to allow the Great Xia Army to obtain an easy victory.
If they had gone head-to-head with the Ashoka Dynasty, it would ended with a hard fought victory.
Great Xia's sudden declaration of war was a hard to accept disaster for the Persian Empire. Although the Persian Empire had two million troops, it was difficult for them to win against the Great Xia Army coming from three fronts.
The Persian Empire's internal stability was an advantage but also a massive disadvantage.
Out of the two million troops, more than half were imperial city guards that had basically never experienced war; their actual combat ability was terrible.
If that were not the case, the Mongol Empire would not have beaten the Persian Empire to the point where their face swelled up during their west conquering.
Compared to the Mongol iron cavalry, the Great Xia Army was more than a level higher.
Based on combat strength, the 1.5 million Great Xia troops were equal to or greater than the two million Persian Empire troops.
How could the Persian Empire win?
They could only seek help from their allies.
There were three dynasties connected to the Persian Empire that were in the Silver Hand camp, namely the Arab Empire, the Caesar Dynasty, and the Romanov Dynasty.
The Caesar and Romanov dynasties were trapped on the European battlefield. They were even looking for the Persian Empire to help them. There was no way they would have the energy to help the Persian Empire instead.
In particular, the Romanov Empire was busy conquering Ottoman Dynasty land. Moreover, the region where it was connected to the Persian Empire by was also the east region, which was an area where they had little people. As a result, they lacked the ability to help.
The greatest possibility was the Arab Empire.
The two empires had the same origins. However, as a result of a difference in faith, they were split into two empires. Their current relationship was not that friendly, and whether the Arab Empire was willing to help them or not was a truly unknown factor.
Not to mention that the Arab Empire also had to face the direct threat of Great Xia's Africa warzone.
All things considered, the Persian Empire could only face this battle on its own.
...
Great Xia's declaration of war on the Persian Empire was like a nuclear bomb going off, causing the peaceful global landscape to blow apart.
The victim, the Persian Empire, was not the only one caught off guard. Other people also did not expect Great Xia who was deep in the public debate spiral to continue as usual. Great Xia did not forget to expand outward and continue its journey to the top of the game world.
It was as if the destruction of Hope City did not affect Great Xia's strategy.
Naturally, this became one of the reasons Silver Hand used to criticize Great Xia.
The problem laid in the fact that both Silver Hand and Azure Badge had been forging Ouyang Shuo's righteous image. If they stepped out to scold Ouyang Shuo now, all their hard work would be wasted.
As a result, they could only maintain their silence and swallow all the pain.
"I even suspect that Ouyang Shuo saw this opportunity to start war without restraint." Jack, who was at the Pacific Coast, could not help but have such thoughts.
Obviously, Jack knew about the strategic position of the Persian Empire and how important its coal and fuel resources were. However, despite the calls for help, there was nothing that the Dawson Dynasty could do.
After taking down India, Great Xia's strategic depth was terrifying, and its overall strength had reached a whole new level. They were not something that the Dawson Dynasty could go against.
This was also why Silver Hand was eager to send Ouyang Shuo away.
Although there were rumors that Ouyang Shuo was developing his successor, Jack felt very confident about dealing with a little girl like Ouyang Bing.
Great Xia's declaration of war was a breath of life to the currently cold global battlefield.
Normal players could not understand why Great Xia chose such a time to attack, but the other Lords did.
To a certain degree, along with Hope City's destruction, mankind's home on Planet Hope was obstructed. The game world's position increased instead of dropping, becoming their second world.
In the foreseeable future, most of them would continue to live here.
Hence, it became even more important to control the game world. It was more important than the previous three spots.
This was an operation to split the cake, and no one wanted to fall behind.
As a result, Ouyang Shuo did not bother about the outside comments. Not long after the war of India ended, he decisively started to wage war on the Persian Empire.
The logic behind this choice was due to such considerations.
If they could take down the Persian Empire and totally control the oil resources of the Persian Gulf, Great Xia would basically be at a position of assured victory in the industrialization race.
The current Ouyang Shuo was like a father about to go away on a long journey. He wanted to do everything well before he left, giving his successor Bing'er a stable legacy to receive.
Otherwise, he would be at ease when he left.